+Halle has launched a new method for working with designers by bringing them together under Annual Briefing, a single brief posed to experts, designed to inform their co-creative process. The first Annual Briefing, Dwelling, centers on the deficit of moments to oneself in public spaces, and the human experience of seeking those moments out in the most public of places.
The first of these collections is Levels, by Form Us With Love, a bench system combining three heights and three lengths to create subtle divisions between people. “We accept the fact that the ways in which people dwell within a space can be particularly divergent. A lot of the choices for taking respite are informed by the anxiety we all feel in a shared common space,” says FUWL CEO Jonas Petterson.” The question then is; how might we create a concept that let’s people relax within a dynamic convivial space?”
By sitting at different heights, different directions, and distances from one another, Levels can break the monotony of a space. These simple changes give people a chance of distance from one another without having to isolate oneself. Just enough to settle in within an open space. “Levels is just one of the ways to take a mental minute.” adds FUWL Creative Director John Löfgren. “Of course, that just makes it the starting point for a variety of different activities. The intention is not to prescribe the function of dwelling, but to suggest it through materiality, shaping, and compositions.”
The design of Levels uses simple shapes. In its simplest form, a single bench could sit at the entrance to a shop. Or a large configuration could occupy the center of a communal space. Levels derives its shape and proportions from architecture. It is in essence just two pillars supporting a beam. This approach to form and scale, permits Levels to integrate in most spaces as a hybrid of furniture and architecture.
